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Current Talk '24 I / Re: It's official: Dark Shadows returns as a film with Johnny Depp
« on: July 27, 2007, 08:27:50 PM »
Actually, it's a fallacy (though but one of the many that have been purported over and over again) that DS would have certainly been canceled were it not for Barnabas' introduction. It's absolutely true that ABC gave DC six months to bring the ratings up or DS was in all probability going to be canceled. However, the ratings had actually improved so much by the time the first Laura storyline had gotten into full swing that ABC renewed DS then - before Barnabas was even hinted at on the show. (I believe this was even discussed/confirmed at last year's Fest.)
Now, of course Barnabas definitely brought DS a great deal of attention and huge ratings - but he didn't necessarily save the show from cancellation. If he had never appeared, well, who knows what the next storyline might have been, and who knows if DS would have gained the heights of popularity that it did with him on board? But the possibility does exist that DS may very well have continued for years to come. Perhaps even beyond April 2, 1971. Some of the soaps that were DS' contemporaries and which weren't as well rated back in the day as DS was do indeed survive to this day. And a Barnabas-less DS would have played out very differently - perhaps even without the frantic pacing that many cite as one of the show's downfalls. But we'll just never know...
Now, of course Barnabas definitely brought DS a great deal of attention and huge ratings - but he didn't necessarily save the show from cancellation. If he had never appeared, well, who knows what the next storyline might have been, and who knows if DS would have gained the heights of popularity that it did with him on board? But the possibility does exist that DS may very well have continued for years to come. Perhaps even beyond April 2, 1971. Some of the soaps that were DS' contemporaries and which weren't as well rated back in the day as DS was do indeed survive to this day. And a Barnabas-less DS would have played out very differently - perhaps even without the frantic pacing that many cite as one of the show's downfalls. But we'll just never know...